The NAACP held its annual convention in Atlanta this weekend. Learn more about the nation's oldest civil rights organization by clicking
here.

France marks Bank holiday.

Kiribati celebrates Independence Day.

New Caledonia observes National Day.

Actor Harrison Ford is 56.

Actor Robert Forster (Reflections in a Golden Eye) is 57.

Politician and former football player Jack Kemp is 63.

Country singer Louise Mandrell is 44.

Writer, actor Cheech Marin (Cheech and Chong films) is 52.

Rubik's Cube inventor Erno Rubik is 54.

Author Wole Soyinka ("The Strong Breed") is 64.

Boxer Michael Spinks is 42.

Actor Patrick Stewart (Excalibur) is 58.

Author David Storey ("The Performance of Small Firms") is 65.

Basketball player Spud Webb is 35.

In 1558, the French under Marshal de Thermes were heavily defeated by the Flemings and their allies, aided by the English fleet, at the battle of Gravelines in the Valois Hapsburg War

In 1643, English parliamentarians were defeated by the Royalists under Prince Maurice at the battle of Roundway Down in the English Civil War.

In 1793, Charlotte Corday murdered French revolutionary Jean Paul Marat in his bath. She was guillotined four days later.

In 1837, Queen Victoria became the first British monarch to live in the present Buckingham Palace.

In 1841, the Straits Convention was signed by the major European powers, guaranteeing the independence of the Ottoman Empire. It also proclaimed the Bosporus and the Dardanelles closed to warships in peacetime.

In 1878, the Ottoman Empire was further dissolved with the signing of the Treaty of Berlin. The Caucasus were given to Russia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria. Romania became independent and the treaty also confirmed Britain's right to occupy Cyprus.

In 1882, the British succeeded in destroying forts built by the Arabi Pasha threatening the Suez Canal after three days of firing by battleships led by Sir Beauchamp Seymour in the Egyptian rebellion.

In 1919, the British airship R34 landed back in Norfolk after
making the first-ever Atlantic aerial round-trip. It set out
from Scotland to the United States on July 2.

In 1930, the first-ever soccer World Cup competition began in Montevideo, Uruguay, with 13 teams taking part.

In 1943, the greatest tank battle in history ended with Russia's defeat of Germany at Kursk, south of Moscow. Almost
6,000 tanks took part and 2,900 were lost by Germany. There were at least 230,000 casualties in the battle.

In 1944, the Russian army captured the city of Vilna in
Lithuania.

In 1955, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in Britain after she had murdered her lover.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy won the Democratic nomination to run
for president of the United States, beating Senator Lyndon
Johnson.

In 1977, a massive power failure at 9.34 p.m. caused a huge
blackout all over New York City. Looting and rioting broke out, with police arresting at least 3,000 looters.

In 1978, Soviet dissident Alexander Ginzburg was
sentenced to eight years in a labor camp.

In 1992, Yitzhak Rabin took over as Israeli prime minister with an immediate offer to travel to the capitals of his Arab enemies in search of Middle East peace.

In 1997, Miguel Angel Blanco, a member of Spain's ruling
party, died of wounds after being kidnapped and shot twice
in the head by Basque separatist guerrillas.